La Bruschetta

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.

Chef/owner Giovanni Cariello clearly loves his little Haymarket restaurant. Warmth and comfort pervade, despite the stiff Mackintosh furniture and the elbows-to-neighbours intimacy of the place. It feels rustic and convivial, augmented by the charm and efficiency of the tailored service. Authentic is a word bandied about far too much, but it fits with many aspects of La Bruschetta, including, remarkably, the bruschetta itself. The Popolare is uncomplicated and delicious, with ripe tomatoes, oregano, great olive oil and bread seasoned and toasted to form an honest, appetising appetiser. Of the antipasti, prosciutto and parmigiano with rocket could be less crowded by sun-dried tomatoes, capers and radicchio. However, lobster-stuffed Agnalotti is superb, with just-so pasta and intensely flavoured filling. Vegetarians may feel somewhat marginalised by the secondi, which comprise steaks, veal and chicken in various guises, and fish simply cooked, as it should be. Dolci show the same combination of honesty and skill, and are only let down by more irrelevent touches: slices of green, acidic kiwi are not able to enhance the silky sweetness of a fine pannacotta. Still, this is a proper, honest-to-goodness ristorante Italiano that meets the expectations of those who have dined out in Napoli.

• High point: Deliciously unfussy menu which allows you to spend as little or as much as you'd like
• Low point: Garnishes stuck in the 1990s.